Grit Those Teeth!
by patriotprideboy
Summary: An alternate ending to episode eight, "I've Been Such A Fool". Hitomi wishes for Sayaka to return to her old, confident self again. How will her wish impact her blue-haired friend's declining attitude? Oneshot. R&R.


She was rich. She had great friends and family. She lived in a luxurious household. She was one of the more popular girls at school and, by this time, she was in the process of having a boyfriend all for herself.

That's how it should be for Hitomi Shizuki.

But despite all of that – things weren't all right. Something felt out of place – something that could tear her growing soul apart if it were to manifest itself. From someone else's point of view, they could easily consider her spoiled.

They wouldn't know anything, though. This didn't even concern her, to an extent – even though Hitomi was given the "rich treatment" by many, she was raised well. She wasn't a brat nor was she obnoxious. She was kind-hearted and friendly, and when it came to her friends, she would always do the honourable thing.

Sadly, her problem _did_ involve a close friend.

Her friend's name was Sayaka Miki. They had been close since they were little. When they were kids, they would tell ghost stories and gossip like any group of young girls would.

Discussing boys was also a favourite past-time of young girls. However, the two never brought the topic up – they would simply avoid it without any trouble… until a day ago.

As it turned out, Sayaka and Hitomi both loved the same boy. Sayaka's other childhood friend, to be exact. If one could inspect Sayaka's attitude for the past week, they would be able to tell that the girl was in pain. It figured, for she could never hide her feelings that easily.

For Sayaka, it was twisted – she was not an ordinary girl anymore. She had made a contract with a cat-like alien and proceeded to become a magical girl. The more time she spent as one, the less and less she felt human and out-of-place in the world. A zombie, she thought. She was a zombie. How could she face her childhood crush like that? It was almost impossible for her to be with him, because of her newfound duty of hunting witches.

Hitomi, of course, had no idea about her witch-hunting duties or newly acquired magical talent. Unbeknownst to her, she was the catalyst for Sayaka's rapidly deteriorating attitude. Even then, she felt bad. She had noticed a recent decline in Sayaka's mood and began to wonder. If she and Kyosuke – Sayaka's crush – really were to go out, would she hurt her own friend even though she had told her ahead of time?

_Sayaka… please be all right, _Hitomi thought to herself. The gloomy atmosphere in her room was apparent; two friends fighting over the same boy is not a fun event to take part in.

"I can't deny my feelings, Sayaka." Hitomi began talking aloud. "I love Kyosuke and only one of us can have him… but at the same time, I wish you could also be happy."

"Do you really want that to happen, Hitomi?"

A voice suddenly took Hitomi by surprise. It was a light voice, almost like a child's.

"W-Who's there?" Hitomi sat up on her bed. That's when the source of the voice made itself visible to her. The minute it made itself visible was when Hitomi's eyes widened and she let out a gasp. It was a small, white creature with long ears with two matching earrings. It reminded Hitomi of some sort of rabbit or a cat. Perhaps a mix of both. Whatever it was, it left her staring at it blankly, mouth agape.

"Hello, Hitomi." The creature started. "My name is Kyubey. I overheard your little monologue, and I'm here to say that wish you spoke of can be made into reality."

Hitomi continued to stare at it for five more seconds until she recomposed herself.

"Just what are you, though?" she asked.

"My name is Kyubey. Does my appearance really need an explanation?"

"I… guess not… but what were you saying about this wish that can be granted?"

"Oh yes. You can make a contract with me to become a magical girl! I'll grant you one wish in exchange for your soul."

Hitomi looked at it again. Trading her soul for one wish? Isn't that something like… a deal with the devil? No, that's silly, she thought. The devil can't possibly look as cute as this Kyubey creature.

"I… have my doubts…" Hitomi replied. "This is too sudden… but if you really did overhear me, why couldn't you just grant it then?"

"I would like your full consent before proceeding." Kyubey said. "But you said something about Sayaka. I happen to know her. She also made a contract with me about a week ago and became a magical girl herself."

Hitomi was surprised at this revelation. Sayaka, a magical girl? Figures she'd run into that sort of stuff. She was always the lively one.

"And her wish was that this Kyosuke boy's hand be healed completely. Speaking of which, you are both friends with this boy, are you not? I regret to inform you, however, that Sayaka's soul is being swept away by darkness she caused herself."

Now Hitomi was upset. Like a bomb in her head, her mind exploded. She understood what happened – Sayaka wished for Kyosuke's hand to be healed, hoping that she would finally be together with him forever. Unfortunately for the two of them, they had never talked about it until yesterday. And now she learned that Sayaka could have been putting her life on the line every one of these nights fighting these witch things.

It upset Hitomi that her friend was being swept away like this. Tears began forming in her eyes, and she was more inclined to make this wish for it to all stop. What would she do, though? If she were to make this happen, she too would have to likely put her own life on the life fighting these witch things.

Then again, it was Sayaka who was feeling lonely and depressed. She could at least try to be with her during these times. She should at least try to help her, as a new magical girl.

"OK, Kyubey… I'll do it, for Sayaka's sake." Hitomi said.

"Excellent. What will your wish be?"

"I wish…" Hitomi began her wish. There were a lot of ways she could do this, but she figured that she would need to get someone else to help her as well. She couldn't bear to see her friend lonely. She could do it herself, but something told her that time was of the essence.

"I wish for someone to help Sayaka get through these bad times, starting now! Let her know that there's still something to fight for even when her spirit's weakened, and that we can all still be friends…"

Kyubey looked at Hitomi for a couple of seconds before a stream of light appeared before Hitomi, which made her yelp.

"Contract finalized!" Kyubey stated. "Your wish has been granted. You are also now a magical girl!"

Judging from the little lightshow in her room, Hitomi knew that her wish had been granted, even though she wasn't directly in front of Sayaka. She felt a little bit happier, but still prayed to herself that her friend would be all right.

_Elsewhere, at Mitakihara Train Station…_

It was desolate with a gloomy atmosphere to boot. That's how devoid of life Mitakihara station looked and felt even with someone still inside it – that someone being Sayaka Miki resting on a chair in front of the train tracks, head hung low and all.

Sounds could be heard from someone running up an escalator. It was a red-haired girl with a black ribbon forming a ponytail. Her small denim jeans seemed to fit her green jacket perfectly. Sayaka subconsciously noted this as Kyoko Sakura, come to "rescue" her.

After today's ordeal, she had her doubts on what anyone could do to her at this point. After all, she was worthless. A zombie. No one could care for her any more. Not even her closest friends.

Kyoko approached Sayaka carefully. She eyed her before sitting down, opening a small box of chips.

"Finally, I found ya!" Kyoko said. "How much longer are ya gonna do the stubborn thing, huh?"

"I'm sorry if I caused you any trouble…" Sayaka replied.

"Seriously?" Kyoko responded with a chip halfway in her mouth. "Doesn't sound like you at all."

"Yeah… you're right." Sayaka said in agreement. "I guess I just don't care anymore… I can't remember… what I thought was so important. What was worth protecting… you know? It's all a blank now. It doesn't make sense anymore…"

"Hey, come on!" Kyoko replied. That's when Sayaka revealed her soul gem to Kyoko, noticing that it had become nearly pitch-black. Kyoko, of course, looked shocked.

"Balance means good and bad have to zero themselves out, right?" Sayaka started. "That's what you said, right? Or something like it… I think I understand what you mean now. The good thing is… I did _save _a few people.

"But the bad thing is, I got angrier and my heart filled up with envy and hate. It got so bad that I even hurt my best friend…"

"Sayaka, your soul gem…!" Kyoko could only look in horror.

"For all the happiness you wish for someone… someone else gets cursed with equal misery." Sayaka stated, tears forming in her eyes. "That's how it works for magical girls… and that's how it works for me…

"I was stupid… so stupid."

Before Sayaka's tears could drop, a bright light appeared away from Kyoko and startled her, also momentarily catching Sayaka's attention. Had Sayaka made eye contact with her before this, Kyoko would have surely been horrified at the girl's facial expression.

"_**SAYAKAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"**_

That was also when a voice called out to the blue-haired girl. A young man with red goggles and short, spiky purple hair emerged from the light and was running directly towards the two of them. Both of them too taken aback to react.

"_**LET'S SEE YA GRIT THOSE TEEEEEEEEEEEETH!**_**"**

Before Sayaka knew it, she was punched hard on the right cheek and was sent flying backwards a few meters. Her soul gem was flung a few meters away, but was unharmed. Kyoko quickly noted that it had stopped growing blacker as it was doing before.

On the ground, Sayaka looked dazed, just as anyone would be if they were just socked so surprisingly like that. She didn't have time to think, though. What was going on?

"Hey, what the hell?!" Kyoko turned around to face the young man, ready for a brawl. The boy, however, was only concerned with the blue-haired girl. He regained his composure after the hit he landed, looking down at Sayaka's body.

"Snapped out of it yet… Sayaka?" the mysterious young man asked her. Despite the sudden intrusion, Kyoko understood was going on. This save stopped Sayaka's soul gem from getting any darker… which she knew was likely a very _bad _thing.

Sayaka was still on the floor, dazed. Kyoko noted that a harder hit would have likely knocked her out.

"You know…" the purple-haired man began. "I was once belted like that, too."

_Who is this guy? And how does he know who Sayaka is? _Kyoko thought to herself. She didn't interfere, however, although she was ready to pounce on him at any time.

"Everybody makes mistakes." The man continued. "It's to be expected. But… when you do make a mistake, you should be slugged by someone. I mean… there's no need to drown yourself in sorrow."

Sayaka was getting back up again, still dazed, but quietly listening to her attacker's words. The boy took notice of it.

"At the time, you might think that it's a mistake that you can never undo. Even if it is." The man stated. "But hey, if we kick and scream and fight like hell, we move forward a little bit.

"I was taught… to believe in the me that believes in myself. That's probably how it should be. At least, that's what I think. You had the courage and strength to try to do something for someone else, something that not many people are capable of doing. What's so terrible about that?"

At this point, Sayaka could only look at man with tears in her eyes as he gave her a warm smile. It was silly. This strange person had just socked her, and yet… she wasn't feeling as bad as she did before. She should be livid about now, but her nerve to do so betrayed her.

"Y-You…" Sayaka began. "I…"

"Come on, Sayaka." The young man replied softly. "Your friends need you." He offered his hand to her, to which Sayaka gradually accepted.

"Actually…" the purple-haired man said, helping her up. "I'm pretty sure there's someone else in this world here that needs you even more than anyone else." He turned to face Kyoko, who was staring at the two of them in amazement. Eventually, her own eyes began to tear up, and she couldn't help but run up to Sayaka and give her a hug. Sayaka returned her gesture, although she was surprised at her suddenness.

"I'm sorry… and I guess I really did misjudge you." The blue-haired girl noted. She had begun to figure that even a girl like Kyoko has a soft side – it just took the encouragement and sympathy of someone to bring a bit of it out. As the two broke the hug, there was still one thing fresh on both Sayaka and Kyoko's minds.

"Who in the world are you?" the blue-haired girl asked. Amused, the young man only started to walk away from them, but shot the girls a smile while looking back.

"Kid, just who the hell do you think I am?"

**END**

**This idea just happened to pop into my head and I went with it. I hope you enjoyed the little treat here.**


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